Very soon use of coal for preparing meals will not to be allowed in open eateries, hotels and restaurants of six cities of the State.
Instead, promoting and giving access to LPG and electricity to low-income neighbourhood as well as to road side eateries, dhabas and restaurants is on cards.
And there will be total coverage of households by distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or Piped Natural Gas (PNG) and leveraging programmes like Ujjwala in these cities.
Enforcement of a complete ban in garbage burning in public and legal action are to be taken against open burning of tyres, biomass and other substances.
These are some of the action points of the State Government, which are included in the action plan to ensure clean air in the polluted cities.
With poor air quality raising serious concern on public health system in six cities of the State, action plan has been charted out for taking up implementation of the same in these urban nodies.
Cities like Angul, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Talcher, Baleswar and Rourkela are facing worst air pollution and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has expressed concern of its significant impact on public health.
Looking at the grim scenario, the State Government has chalked out a detailed action plan to be implemented in these six cities of the State and implementation is being done on “Top Most Priority” basis.
The action plan involves several departments including those of Forest and Environment, Energy, Police, Transport, Urban Development, Works and State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).
The ambient air quality in all these six cities is constantly remaining above the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
Accordingly the action plan has been prepared for improving the air quality in each city and each department will implement the same with all seriousness, said a senior official in the Department of Forest and Environment.
The plan has listed several action points and multiple agencies are involved in implementing the same; so respective departments will post nodal officers to coordinate the entire programme.
Various action points include providing access to natural gas pipelines for all residential and commercial use, solar rooftop policy implementation, running busses in cities through generation of bio-gas from waste and sewage.
Creation of appropriate eco system for growth of electric vehicles in the cities is another action point, said sources.
Banning and phasing out diesel auto-rickshaws and introduction of CNG and electric auto-rickshaws are on cards.
Now, the NITI Aayog has prepared a road map for growth of use of electric vehicles in the country and several State Governments are moving ahead with such a proposal, said sources.
The SPCB will not allow any polluting industries inside the cities and will carry out pollution hot spot monitoring. Pollution hot spots will be identified and those places will be monitored regularly.
Local area action plan for pollution hot spots will be chalked out so that actions will be taken up locally.
There will be a total restriction on brick kilns within urban airshed zones during high-pollution periods.
